


Day Dreaming

by crownedatlast



Category: Alice In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Glasses, Internal Conflict, Parallel Universes, Psychological Drama, Teen Angst, Teenage Boy - Freeform, Wonderland, alice as a boy, genderbending kind of, life choice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2018-11-16 15:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11255370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownedatlast/pseuds/crownedatlast
Summary: Harry Dodgson was never very comfortable with his life and magically being transported to another world certainly did not help. Scared and confused Harry tries to figure out the secrets of this new world and get back to his old one. However, as it becomes clear that Harry can transport himself between the two worlds and that this new one has so much to offer him, Harry is faced with a decision. Should he leave or stay in this Wonderland and what will be the consequences to each? Based on Lewis Carroll's nonsensical tale of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, this story will open up the hidden secrets of Wonderland at its core and bring you along for the ride. I do not own any characters that appear in any of Lewis Carroll's books.





	1. Ya, definitely a dream

Harry Dodgson was having just one of those days. Everything was going wrong and it was only 9:30am. Sadly, this day was about to get even worse, today Harry was going to die. It happened pretty suddenly. Harry was running through the long university hallways in a desperate attempt to make it to his next class on time. His pale skin glistened with sweat as his glasses fogged up due to his heavy breathing, making it hard to see. Harry never meant to be late to his classes, it just always seemed to happen. Even on this day while Harry was in the midst of running to beat the bell he couldn’t help but fantasize about the lives of all the students he passed in the hall. What were they like, how did they live their lives, why were they in this university? Harry found all that fascinating, for you see he didn’t know a single one of them. Left turn, run, left turn again, down the stairs. Harry was almost to the bottom when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Fear froze Harry in mid-step as he realized what was happening.  
“No,” Harry thought desperately, “Not again!” Harry tripped the rest of the way down trying to breathe. His vision was clouding and the pain in his chest was only spreading. Almost unconscious, Harry pushed past students stumbling into the nearest room and collapsed on his shaking hands and knees. Breathing heavily, Harry pushed down his initial reflex to hurl right onto the bathroom floor. Harry could feel his sweat falling from his short cut black hair onto the rest of his body. He didn’t know what to do, the pain have never been this bad before.  
“Why…” Harry moaned. The ache had slowly shifted to his head and the fierce pounding was almost unbearable. A soft knock was heard from the other side of the door and an even softer voice followed, “Harry, Harry are you okay in there?” Oh no. Harry tried to force himself into a sitting position. The pain had subsided a little and he could finally look around the empty men’s bathroom he now found himself in. I can’t let anyone see me like this. Harry mustered all the strength he had left, “No, I’m okay. I’ll be out soon, there is no need to worry.”  
“Are you sure?” the voice answered. “Your face was almost white.” Harry cursed at her persistence and crawled his way to the closest wall. Hoisting himself up with the edge of a sink, he smoothed his black hair and straightened his clothes in the mirror. Gritting his teeth and trying to remain calm Harry called out in the most pleasant voice he could muster.  
“I just wanted to be away from the crowds for a little while but I’m perfectly fine.” The door to the bathroom creaked open and a small head of a short girl peeked in. Her eyes were filled with concern and for some reason this irked Harry even more. “But class starts in two minutes. We should be there already.” By her tone of voice and body language Harry figured they were class mates, although he didn’t remember her. To be perfectly honest he didn’t remember most people’s faces. They were all too much alike to be worth remembering. What is this girls name? Olivia maybe? And why the heck was she peeking into the men’s bathroom?!  
“I know. I’ll be there very soon but thank you.” She smiled at him shyly and whispered an okay before leaving him in peace.  
“Man, that was annoying.” Harry thought. “Why did she even follow me?” With a sigh, Harry looked in one of the bathroom’s mirrors to make sure he looked presentable. Satisfied with what he saw, Harry made his way to leave but the door would not open. Harry began to furiously shake the door, but it would not budge. Annoyance quickly turned to anger as Harry pounded his fists against it and yelled for help.  
“She was outside a second ago,” Harry thought. “Heck, tons of people were outside! Why is nobody ever there when I actually need them!” The school’s ancient bell tower began to signal the new hour and Harry knew if he didn’t make it to class soon he would be in major trouble. Anger was beginning to take over Harry’s senses and red dots started to cloud his vision. Before he understood what was happening, Harry started mashing his entire body against the door repeatedly. If this were any other door it would have been knocked right off its hinges, but not this door. It seemed to have taken a personal liking to Harry and was determined to keep him all to itself. “Are they all stupid!” Harry yelled, as he smashed his body once more into what now felt a lot more like a brick wall instead of a swinging door. The pain had returned to Harry’s chest, draining him of his last of his energy. Harry could feel his left arm and backside beginning to develop bruises and knew he had taken it too far. He stumbled to the closest mirror and stared at his battered reflection.  
“Lu is going to be ticked with me,” Harry sighed under his breath. He could just imagine her face when he came home covered in bruises… again. Taking a deep breath Harry tried to think up of a strategy to get himself out. I could try to climb out the window but I’m on the second story of the building. If only I hadn’t forgotten my phone! What am I … Before Harry could finish his thought, a small white light shot past his face and landed on the door. Harry thought the pain was making him hallucinate, but after staring at it for a few moments the light did not disappear. Carefully, Harry walked towards it with an outstretched hand. The light didn’t move, it just patiently sat there waiting for Harry to come closer. Harry was almost close enough to touch it, when it disappeared and then reappeared in front of one of the washroom’s full-length mirrors. Harry crept even slower towards it now, fearing that it would disappear at any moment. This time however, the light floated towards Harry’s hand and surrounded it with. It felt warm and comforting to strangely familiar. The glow started to spread to the rest of Harry’s body until he was entirely enveloped by it. Harry did not know what to do except stare at his glowing reflection. He started to glow brighter, and the brighter he got the hotter he felt. Harry started to feel dehydrated and dizzy and his clouding vision was of no comfort. Before he blacked out Harry thought he saw a very specific animal behind him in the reflection. A white rabbit?  
***  
When he came to Harry realized something was wrong immediately. It wasn’t the fact that he was lying in the middle of the bathroom or that the air tasted strangely stale. What turned Harry off was the fact that it was deathly quiet. No sounds of student life, speaker announcements, or even the usual ringing in your ears when everything is too quiet. Harry slowly got up into a sitting position and looked around the room. It looked old and decrepit and the mirrors were all blurry so that Harry couldn’t see a clear reflection in them. He raised his hand and touched his nose to make sure his glasses still rested there. With great effort Harry crawled over to the mirrors and placed his hands on one of them. The blurry surface swirled around as if it were rippling water and Harry fell back in astonishment.  
“W-what on e-earth is happening-g?” Harry fearfully glanced around him at the transformed washroom until a thought struck him. Of course, it was so simple, he was dreaming. Feeling confident about his new revelation Harry breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded to try to stand. He failed the first few times but finally managed to heave himself off the floor. He stumbled to the wall and clutched a sink for support. Harry peered through the glass again but could not make out his face in it.  
“I wonder what kind of dream this is?” Harry thought out loud. Peering closer into the glass Harry tried to make out his reflection in the clouded surface.  
“Maybe if I just look closer…” Harry’s face was almost touching the glass when it suddenly cleared. Harry smiled with satisfaction as he stared at his now clear reflection. Feeling balanced enough to stand by himself, Harry let go of the sink’s edge and started to walk around the room looking for the door which had mysteriously disappeared. He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and froze. He turned slowly, his heart racing but nobody was beside him. Nobody at all, including his reflection in the mirror. Reminding himself that this was all just happening in his head Harry ran back to one of the mirrors and stared intensely at it. His reflection instantly reappeared laughing. Harry’s expression turned into one of complete shock and the reflection mimicked his exasperated face. With the real Harry frozen in place, reflection Harry started running from one mirror to another taunting Harry to chase after him. Harry’s mind had gone into overdrive trying to figure out his current situation. It’s a dream, it’s just a dream… An unexplainable desire to catch and strangle his reflection came over Harry and he bolted after it. Surprised with Harry’s sudden cooperation in his game, the shadow shot him a look of sly joy and started running faster from mirror to mirror taunting Harry as he ran. With inhuman speed, Harry dashed after the figure and smashed his hands into the place on the mirror where he stood. The reflection just stood behind the mirror and smirked at Harry. Then, in one swift motion, Reflection grabbed through the mirror and onto Harry’s wrists pulling him inside of it. Harry fell through screaming into a long dimly lit hallway, with a low dirt ceiling. Scrambling up from his knees, Harry turned around to see his reflection behind him, still standing in the mirror of the restroom. Harry ran back to it and tried to push through again but the mirror was solid. With one final chuckle Harry’s reflection and the mirror he was in turned black and vanished, leaving behind only a dirt wall. Harry just stared at the wall in front of him. He couldn’t tell for how long he did this, time seemed to be non-existent in the tunnel. A wave of fear and claustrophobia washed over Harry and he started clawing at the dirt wall with desperation. As his hands became covered with dirt and his nails with blood Harry realized that there was no way to get back, the only option was to turn around and move forward. Forcing his legs to move Harry began stumbling down the tunnel. He walked for a long time at a snail’s pace until he finally saw light ahead of him. With strength Harry, didn’t know he had, he dashed towards it. As he got closer to the opening he saw his reflection standing at the entrance waiting for him. Running as fast as he could Harry burst through the tunnel and tackled it to the ground.  
“Ha! I’ve got you now!” he yelled at it. Harry was breathing heavily from his sprint and as his heart rate started going down he realized something, something very important. The person he was sitting on top of was not his reflection. Getting off as quickly as he could Harry pulled the flattened man to his feet. Harry didn’t think he had ever been so embarrassed in his life as he continuously apologized to the person now standing in front of him. The man’s almost ghostly face lit up with a friendly smile as he waved off Harry’s apology. After calming down slightly Harry realized he was finally outside in the strangest forest he had ever seen. Only a small percentage of the forest’s canopy was made out of trees. Giant mushrooms where everywhere, sometimes even taller than the trees. Flowers that appeared to have faces bloomed together in scattered flower beds all along the forest floor. The trees of the forest itself all seemed to be in different seasons. Some already had blossoms while others where bare and others still had their fall leaves. There was also no sense of location. Small palm trees grew adjacent to huge evergreens. Harry started to theorize about his dream theory again when he finally remembered that there was another person with him. He quickly turned his attention back to the matter at hand.  
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to ignore the person I had just tackled.” He admitted sheepishly. “It’s just…” he pointed to their surroundings letting the scenery speak for itself. The man chuckled at Harry’s bewilderment.  
“No apologizes necessary. I imagine that this place would be a wonder to anyone who just came here, though truthfully not many have.” A nostalgic look spread over the man’s face as Harry got a good look at him. The man’s appearance fit the strangeness of the situation. Sleeked hair, but to opposite sides of his head so that he had two puff balls of hair on each side. Pale face, deep eyes, and a suite that would fit right into Victorian society. Harry couldn’t tell what age he was but he was sure at least late twenties. The man turned his attention backed to Harry.  
“May I ask your name young man and where you are from?” Harry nodded, he had been so rapped up in the situation that normal introductions seemed almost weird. It was nice to finally be doing something normal, hopefully this man could answer his questions so it would be in his best interest to get acquainted.  
“My name is Harry Dodgson and I’m from Oxford, England.” Surprised shot through the man’s expression as Harry introduced himself.  
“How very interesting,” the man mumbled to himself a little to loudly to be a whisper. He started staring off into the distance in thought but Harry brought him back quickly with a swift cough. “Oh, so sorry. Old habit of mine.” The man apologized.  
“No need,” Harry answered impatiently. Advancing towards Harry, the man lay his arm across his own chest so that his hand rested above his heart. “The place you find yourself now in is called Tulgey Wood.” He extended him arm forward. “The caved you just exited from is named Mirrored Cave. No one has come through it in quite a while.” I wonder how long…  
“The land you currently find yourself in is a place called Wonderland.” Hang on just one…! “And I”, the man motioned to himself. “I am called Carroll, Lewis Carroll”  
Oh ya, defiantly a dream.


	2. Why are you here?

   Harry thought over the events that lead him to this point. Following a dead famous author through a fictional forest in a land that was supposed to only exist in a book he had never even bothered to read. His dream theory was quickly slipping away, as he followed Carroll through a forest that felt all too real. Just breath Harry, you’ve been through worse…maybe.

Harry was starting to doubt that, although some of his past life experiences could almost compete with this on the crazy factor…almost. As Harry admired his surroundings, he could not suppress a feeling of awe no matter how much he wished he was not there. He had never seen a forest like this before and he doubted anyone else on earth ever had. The flowers with faces were greeting him with smiles and the trees were randomly growing and shrinking all around him. Carroll had to pause periodically to allow Harry to take it all in, which was appearing to be quite a challenge.

  
    “I just don’t understand how any of this is possible,” Harry breathed. “I mean this was all just a kid’s book, and books are not supposed to come alive!”

  
    “This is all just two children’s books,” Carroll corrected him. “I wrote two volumes about Wonderland. Everyone is always forgetting my sequel.”

  
    “Well actually,” Harry replied. “They recently made a movie about the second book.” Carroll turned around to give Harry a confused look.

  
    “What is a movie?” Carroll asked. Harry mentally slapped his forehead. Of course, an author that lived in the 1800’s doesn’t know what a movie is.

  
    “Well, you see,” Harry tried to explain. “There are pictures on a screen and they move…”

  
    “Oh!” Carroll acknowledged. “You mean a moving picture.” It was Harry’s turn to look surprised.

  
    “You know what that is?!” A mischievous look mixed with disappointment appeared on the deceased man’s face.

  
    “My dear boy, exactly how old to you think I am?” Harry turned his eyes to the forest floor as he realized he had no idea at all about Lewis Carroll’s age or the history of film. “I died on January 14, 1898 making me sixty-five when I died but I suppose I would currently be one hundred and eighty-five years old. That gives a whole new meaning to respecting your elders,” Carroll chuckled. They traveled in silence for a few more minutes until the forest began to thin. Harry was forced to stop when they came to a stream. It was small enough to jump over but Carroll just stood there and stared at it.

  
    “Um… Mr. Carroll, are we going to move on?”

  
    “Hmmm? Oh yes, I would just like to prepare you, my dear boy.” Harry almost burst out laughing. With the day, he was having being prepared for things just was not in the description anymore.

   
    “Be prepared for what Sir?” A sad almost dark look came over Carroll’s face.

  
    “I mean this in the nicest way Harry, never call me Sir.” A small chill ran down Harry’s spine because of the way Carroll said that sentence but in a second a friendly smile lit up his face again. “When we jump over this river we will automatically be outside my house. I just thought I should warn you or you might believe you were losing your mind.” Oh, I just might be already. Harry took in a deep breath and tried, against his better judgement, to mentally prepare himself for teleporting. “On my count,” Carroll instructed. “Ready and JUMP!” With that command Harry launched himself into the air and over the river not really knowing what to expect.

Unlike the teleporters Harry had seen on TV there was no loud bang, no big flash of light. It was just at one moment he was by a river bank and a second later he was standing in the middle of a vegetable garden or at least what he believed to be a vegetable garden. Harry was not exactly sure what colourful food was growing up from the earth.

  
    “I do not mean to be rude Harry, but would you please step off my flower bed. They look very uncomfortable.” Harry quickly turned his attention ahead of him to where Carroll was already climbing the steps of an enormous mansion. It was completely made out of blue and gold glowing bricks. At lest twenty windows decorated the front, with the same swirling glass that Harry had gone through to get to Wonderland. Opened mouthed, Harry stepped off the moaning flowers and proceeded to follow Carroll inside. What awaited him there was even more shocking than the outside appearance. Despite its grand exterior, the inside of the manor consisted of one small circular room with a table, two chairs, an old-fashioned stove, and a small wooden chest in the corner. Carroll motioned to one of the rickety wooden chairs and Harry quickly sat down, wondering how, despite it all, Wonderland continued to surprise him.

  
    “Nice place you have here Mr. Carroll.” Harry remarked with just a touch of confusion in his voice.

  
    “Yes, it is.”

  
    “…”

  
    “…”

  
An awkward silence had placed itself in the room and neither the man nor the boy really knew had to proceed. Desperation soon got the better of Harry and he began to speak.

  
    “You promised me,” he said in an almost too calm tone. “That if I followed you to wherever you were going, that you would answer all my questions.” Carroll stared at the boy for a brief period and nodded in agreement.

  
    “Yes, I supposes I did say that… tea?

  
Harry almost immediately refused, he was way to nervous to even think about drinking. One look from Carroll’s tired eyes though, told Harry that the tea was more for him than his guest.

  
    “Alright sure,” Harry sighed, giving in to etiquette. Carroll quickly opened the chest and pulled out a tea pot and two cups. Instead of putting the pot on the stove he brought it straight to the table and poured steaming tea into each of the cups. After a long sip Carroll sat down across from Harry and closed his eyes.

  
    “You may now ask your questions.” Harry looked up from his still full cup of tea and stared at the man. He appeared to be getting older and signs of gray were beginning to show. Harry didn’t bother to even try to understand.

  
    “Well, what is this place, how did I get here, why did I come here, how do I get back, is this place dangerous, how are you still alive, why have we not met anyone else…?” Harry had so many more questions but was not able to put them all into words. Carroll just sat there, sipping his tea, and listening to Harry’s long list of questions.

  
    “Is that all of them,” Carroll asked the bewildered teen.

Harry nodded, “Yes, for now.” Carroll closed his eyes again and sighed. “I am not exactly sure how to answer all of your questions Harry, so that you will understand them. I supposes I will just have to start from the very beginning. First of all, Wonderland is a place of wondering minds.”

  
    “What does that even…”

  
    “Please Harry, interrupting is very rude.” The boy became quite again and the old man smiled. “This means that whoever comes here or has the ability to come here, his or her mind is not fully connected to their world. In other words, they have nothing tethering them to stay in their actual world. These people are often suicidal or depressed. They wonder what their purpose in their world is and believe that the world would be better off without them in it. Since they are so disconnected to their world, this allows their mind to wander into a new one, hence the existence of Wonderland. This place is not physically real nor does it just exist inside your head. It is more of a pool of thought that allows your consciousness to reside in it while your physical body stays in its original world. It is essentially, a world full of people who have to make a choice.”

  
    “And what choice would that be?” Harry whispers, barely believing that something like this could ever happen to him.

  
    “Whether to stay in their world or to stay here,” Carroll replies. Harry’s head began to hurt as he tried to process all that Carroll was telling him.

  
    “So, this is a world where my mind has decided to go because I am unhappy being in my own world?”

  
    “Basically.”

  
    “And if I don’t want to be here?”

  
    “You do.”

  
    “How do you know that! You don’t know a thing about me!” Harry was growing angry at this conversation and his head was continuing to bother him.

  
    “You came here. I know all I need to know. What you need to figure out now, is why you are here.”

  
The pain in Harry’s head was increasing. “Why… why did I come here? I don’t know,” Harry slumped down off his chair in pain.

  
    “Well, you are going to have to figure it out,” Carroll stated with a soft smile. “It was very nice to meet you Harry. I am sure I will see you again very soon.”

  
    “What are you talking…”  
For the second time that day Harry blacked out.


	3. Checking out

Everything hurt, especially his face. Harry’s eyelids were so sore that he was debating whether or not to open them at all. Just a few more minutes of sleep… That thought quickly left his mind when he heard a familiar voice crying out his name.

  
“HARRY, HARRY, HARRY!!!” Shoving aside all the pain, and there was a lot of pain, Harry’s eyes snapped open. The hospital room he found himself in was completely white. He was hooked up to several monitors that were all beeping rapidly in different pitches. None of these factors interested Harry, for once it was the people in the room he was paying attention to. A nurse was standing over him eyes wide and mouth gapping. Several others were in middle of trying to drag out a screaming woman from the room. Harry knew that women.

  
“Lu!” Harry yelled as he tried to sit up. It seemed like Harry’s voice had activated a mute button on the room and everyone turned to stare at him. The crying women whom Harry referred to as Lu was the first one to break the silence.

  
“HARRY!” she screamed and ran towards him, nocking over the nurses who were trying to hold her. She knelt by his bed and continued to weep as she draped her arms around him. “You… y-you w-ere gone… but then…” she continued to cry harder as Harry patted her head.

  
“Don’t cry Lu, please,” Harry sighed returning her hug.

  
“B-but,” she continued to sob. “Y-you were g-gone.”  
Harry turned to the nurse that had been standing over him as he woke up. She had finally composed herself and was coming closer with an air of calm authority.

  
“Sir, you are in a hospital. Please do not be alarmed.”  
Harry simply nodded.  
“Do you remember your name?” the nurse asked.  
“Henry James Dodgson.”  
The nurse glanced at her clip board and smiled.  
“And when were you born?”

  
“January 27, 1998”

  
A look of relief washed over the nurse’s face. “And who is this woman sitting next to you?” Harry turned to the still sobbing Lu.

  
“She is my younger sister, Louisa May Dodgson.”

  
The nurse wrote a few notes on her clip board before turning to Harry.

  
“There seems to be no long-term memory loss. You will have to stay in the hospital for a little longer though, so we can do some tests.”

  
Harry nodded before inquiring, “And I am in the hospital because…”

  
The nurse raised an eye brow, “So you don’t remember why you’re here?”

  
Harry tried to think but all it did was make his head hurt more and he started growing frustrated. “No, I don’t remember,” Harry said through gritted teeth. The nurse sighed and sat down on a chair next to Harry’s bed.

  
“Don’t panic dear. This is a very normal accordance.” Harry was not panicking so much as simply growing mad at his current situation. He was in a lot of pain, he couldn’t remember how he got there, and his sister was sill crying. A small voice that they realized was coming from Lu spoke.

“They found you in the university bathroom Harry,” she whispered. “Your face had smashed into a mirror and you were unconscious. I got a call and ran here but a few minutes after I came in your heart monitor stopped beeping and they said you were…”

“Dead,” the nurse finished. “Mr. Dodgson, you were clinically dead.”  
Harry just stared down at his lap as memories began filling his mind. The pain, the bathroom, the rabbit, Carroll…  
Harry didn’t understand what was going on. Was he in a coma and dreamed he went to Wonderland? Was any of that real? Was he going crazy?  
The nurse looked at the siblings and appeared to make a decision. “I will have to inform the doctor of your condition. Near death experiences are not to be taken lightly. However,” the nurse’s eyes grew soft, “I will allow your sister to remain with you.” With that she turned and left along with the flock of other nurses who whispered amongst themselves as they left.

“First time I’ve ever seen this.”

“That girl almost took my head off with her kicking!”

“Peculiar names, don’t you think?”

As the door shut quietly behind them Harry felt the last drops of his energy waste away. With a tired expression he turned towards Lu, who was now sitting in the chair the nurse had just vacated. The siblings sat in silence, both trying to process what had just happened. After a few moments Lu broke the silence.

“I was in school when I got the call Harry,” she stated calmly. “Some lady named Amy said you were found in the washroom with a broken mirror and glass everywhere.” She turned to look at Harry and it was as if his insides froze. “If you lie to me Harry I will know,” She hissed. “What. Happened.”  
Harry didn’t know what to tell her. There was no way he could tell her the truth or what he thought was the truth and have her believe him. He opted for just staring down at his hands.  
“Harry,” Lu repeated with a sigh of defeat. “Please tell me what happed.”

Harry looked up at his sister, “Lu I’m telling you I don’t…” Harry realized that was not what he was supposed to say as the anger flew back into Lu’s eyes.

“Don’t give me that!” Lu yelled. “A month ago you told me you didn’t feel well and were getting chest pains and dizziness AND I TOLD you to go to the doctor but you said you were afraid of needles but you know Harry not every time you go to the doctor do you get a needle and if you do it’s good for you, I have done so much for you Harry I was always there for you always on your side and all I ever EVER asked from you was that you would be honest with me so why are you lying to me Harry!” The tears that Harry though were finally finished started again in Lu’s eyes. “What is it Harry,” Lu sobbed. “Bullying, drugs, depression? Just please tell me!” Harry was speechless, what was he supposed to say.

Tears began sliding down his face,” I promise you Lu, I understand this as much as you do. I don’t know what happened to me. Please believe me I’m not lying to you.”  
The siblings sat in silence holding hands until the nurse returned with the doctor. He was a stern-faced man with little patience in his eyes. His gaze raked across the twins and settled on Harry’s battered face.

“So, Mr. Dodgson, long time no see. You have quite the impressive medical record for a teenager.”  
Harry braced himself for what he knew was coming next.  
“Six hospital visits in the past three months. All from roughhousing incidence.” His eyes narrowed.  
Harry knew he had to remain calm.  
“Look I am only going to say this once,” the doctor spat. “I do not have time to waste on troubled youth all the time! I do care about the hospital policy, but I have had enough of people coming in here for reasons that could have been avoided if you would just use your head. So, I am kindly asking you to not show your face in here unless you’re actually dead. Because if you think that just…”

“DOCTOR!” the nurse interrupted. “That is entirely out of line to be saying to a patient!”  
The doctor just stared at her with blazing eyes before he stormed out of the room.

“Just get him out of here!” the doctor yelled as he left.

Taking a deep breath, the nurse turned to Harry and Lu.

“I am so sorry! I have no idea what the doctor was thinking!”

The siblings just looked at each other for a few seconds before Lu responded, “It is okay.”

“No, it is not!” the nurse answered exasperated, but she dropped the topic when she met Harry’s eyes. “Well, you are free to go, all your papers are in order.” The nurse turned to leave but stopped right at the door. “I just have to know,” she said. “Is one of your parents really into Literature?”  
A thin smile appeared on Lu’s face.

“Our mother is an English professor.”

The nurse smiled understandingly and walked out leaving Harry and Lu alone again.

“Every time we go anywhere this always happens,” Harry grumbled.

“Can you blame them,” Lu giggled. “We are named after very famous authors.”

“Well that doesn’t impress Dr. Oswin anymore!” Harry sighed.

“Can you blame him.” Lu said. “We do show up at his hospital quiet a lot these days.”

“Normally I would be pissed at him but right now I am just so… tired.”

“We should go home now Harry.”

Harry nodded in agreement. As they slid into Lu’s car Harry stopped her from putting in the keys.

“First, we need to stop by the Library, Lu.”

“Really Harry? For what?”

“There is a book I really need to check out… two actually.”


End file.
